The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-05-20


be- locked in again.
DO you Really mean" began
Maud.
"Certainly. | must ms st, if you
please. Iii stay here till you give me
the word
''Be Qu ok, Maud" whispered Mrs.
Estabrook, very diStrusttul of this eX-
trAordlnary burglar. The man IS
her Grim nal or lunatic. Run
and turn the KEY, child, before he
changes his mind.
Thus urged, the girl made another
sortic. Once more the key clicked in
the lock, their prisoner was heard to
cross the floor, and then all was silence
again.
Not for long, however. Suddenly
there was confused clamOr at the
outside door, while the bell pealed
loudly through the house. Maud and
her mother sprang up and faced each
other.
That man back again?' faltered
Mrs. EstabrOOk.
''Oh, mamma, no." said Maud, assur-
ingly. "A burglar would never ring
the bell. Why, it's Tom!' she cried
with sudden conviction. 'It's my
brother come home,' she repeated, as
a voice from the next room was heard,
with renewed proAtrS of assistance.
Tom it was indeed, and very anxious
about the safety of the household. AS
the brother and sister met IN the gray
of the early dawn, he hastily explained
how, having called in to see Amelia,
she had given him no peace until he
promised to return at once to The
Willows; how he had done 50, in some
veXatiOn at what he considered her
fuSsinesS, until everything had sudden
ly been driven out of his mind by the
sight of a blood-stain on the piazza.
At which Maud shuddered. and was
about to relate her version of the nights
adventures, when Mrs. EstabrOok' S
voice was heard in roproachful accents
from above. They hastened upstairs,
and found the poor lady inclined to
Mysteries at being left alone. She be-
gan an incoherent story, in which Pet
er and the burglar were jumbled, to
Toms utter bewilderment.
''But who winged the burglar, thenP"
he asked. WAS it YOU. Maud?'
"Hush-shm breathed his mother,
with warning finger upraised.. He's
in there, you know"
"In there! why, I thought you said
he was gomez And what on earth is
Peter in there for?"
mo, no, not Peter; the-the burg
lar"
The burglarr' Tom jumped up.
You don't mean you've trapped the
fellow? Bravom And he was hurry
ing to the door, when his sister laid a
hand on his arm.
"Oh, wait, Tom" she said. That
is the oldest part of it all" And she
told the tale of their strange guest.
ut doesn't seem like his be ng burg
lar, but don't think he can be in his
| right mind" she concluded.
"By Jove! l should say not! Whv.
the man must be a first class crank.
Well, II have look at him.
He left the room, and the two wom-
en- heard the key. turn in the lock.
They held their breath to listen, but
all they could distinguish in the next
room was a confused sound of voices
and laughter. Presently Tom came
back, accompanied by the suppositious
burglar.
My mother and sister, Mr.. Folliott, {"
| said Tom, with a wave Of the hand and
twinkle of the eye. Mother, this
is my friend Mr.. Folliott, who seems
to think there is some mystery that
needs clearing up. Go ahead Folliott,
| your Gurn first" concluded Tom with a
grin, as he dropped into seat.
Thereupon Mr.. Fclliott explained
that in the course of his pedestrian
tour. it occurred to him to look up a
friend who was making short stay
somewhere in that neighborhood.
This friends name was Estabrook--
| George Estabrook, not Tonne had
not known that Tom Estabrook lived
| in that locality.
! "Butyou'd be likely to know it
another time, /" put in Tom with great
enjoyment.
Mr.. Folliott, continuing said that
| this happening to mistake the place
had led te the whole subsequent comedy
of errors. He appologized for having
accepted their hospitality under false
pretenses, and remarked that he had
made sewers al Intellectual efforts to place
/ himself in his true colors When he
realized the position, after being lock-
ed in, as he felt convinced that his ex-
plantations would not be credited, he
thought he might as well accept the
situation with what philosophy he could
muster, until the march of events should
right him again.
''Now for our side. said Tom when
the story was finished. ''Mother,
where is the fatal telegrampn The tele-
gram was produced and read aloud,
j -. 1......l. 80.